Chey's B-day and Cake!

Chey's B-day went well. Made her a Chocolate Brownie cake this year.I used the very easy Chocolate cake recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking, actually 1 made 2 double recipes for 2- 9x13 cakes. But after that I got lazy and used some boxed items. Duncan Hines Family style brownies. (which to my knowledge are vegan. If I'm wrong please someone tell me.) And some Duncan Hines chocolate & vanilla icing which are both vegan. Normally I make icing. But I was running short on time, energy, and powder sugar. Oops... lol. But it turned out really good. Everyone loved it! (The photo was taken at my parents house).

To replace the egg in the Brownie mix I used 1 Tbsp Flax with 3Tbsp water. And for the 2nd egg I used 1/4 cup Raspberries apple sauce with 1 tsp baking powder. (Actually I accidentally used corn starch.. but I meant to add baking powder ...oops ). They still turned out though. You do need to cook them a few minutes longer. The apple sauce must really up the most. So cook longer or maybe add a small amount of flour or Arrowroot. I do have a problem with them getting done around the edges before they get done in the middle too. If anyone has any ideas like turning down the heat and maybe cooking them longer... let me know. I made these in a 9x13 pan and they turn out thin. So you might want to try 2 boxes. Although they work best in small batches. But they turn out thin even when my Mom makes them with eggs. They do have a slightly different texture. But they are not as bad as some of the other vegan brownies I have tried. They still taste great and if you get them at the right temperature they bake nicely. Still working on just the right concoction to equal the texture of eggs though.

She had a great day. Playing games and opening her presents. But I think the high- light of her presents were the cool new Zhu Zhu pets. Mom told me about these things a few weeks ago. She couldn't find them online anywhere so I went on the hunt. Luckily one day I was up very early for an Old Navy sale and checked at Walmart and Target at 8am and finally found them. But I thought they would be just a dumb new kids thing. But they where actually kinda cool. We opened one of the hamsters and turned it on. I was whispering to Chey and it was running across the carpet. All of a sudden my Grandmas says " Its going to run out the door!" and I turned around and sure enough it was trying to make a break for it... lol... But the Zhu Zhu pets are super cute and you can get beds, tunnels, wheels, and even clothing for the things. I will have to post some pictures later. She ended up getting 2 Hamsters, 2 tunnel things, a carrier, and a bed from my parents and John and I. She will be getting some more of it for Christmas. We have 2 other Hamsters, 2 more tunnels, and another bed & carrier. I am hoping to hunt down the whole set by then though. I like early morning shopping so wish me luck! She got lots of other stuff too that she really liked. Some Polly pockets, baby in my pockets, horses, books, clothing, and other small in your pocket toys..lol.

Then I was handing out the presents so I could give her the Zhu Zhu pets and tunnels last and left my husband to take pictures of her opening gifts. Well of course leave a man to his own devises and I get these pictures.....lol :)